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First guitar I built I used a book by Melvyn hiscock. I was only 16 at the time with hardly any tools and no woodworking experience but somehow the guitar turned out well. Still play it to this day.
 
Oh, it's called 'make your own electric guitar' bet it took a while to think of that title!
 
murdoch":2llfy0rz said:
First guitar I built I used a book by Melvyn hiscock. I was only 16 at the time with hardly any tools and no woodworking experience but somehow the guitar turned out well. Still play it to this day.

I also recommend this book
 
Another vote for the Melvyn book. I would also recommend 'Building electric guitars' by Martin Koch. It's a slightly different take on certain aspects of the build, and it's his method of forming the neck pocket that I use - very simple.
There are a few online courses available now (Robbie O'Brien and BaileyGuitars to name two), which I have seen good reviews for.
Good luck,
Adam
 
There are many good videos and web pages on building electric guitars.

Despite this, I would also recommend Make Your Own Electric Guitar by Melvyn Hiscock.

It gives you a good start-to-finish build process, which will act as a framework on which the other information can hang as additions or variations.

BugBear
 
^ looks like this book might be out of print, cheapest i could find was £32 quid for a used copy....
 
Woodmonkey":2hrzp8zv said:
^ looks like this book might be out of print, cheapest i could find was £32 quid for a used copy....

Horses' mouth:

http://www.melvynhiscock.com/MYOEG.html
http://www.melvynhiscock.com/buynow.html

(Oh - since the first edition had plans (shapes) that are copyrighted by Fender/Gibson, it is pricy and sought after by some people, despite the second edition being substantially improved in terms of techniques. Since the shapes of Fenders and Gibsons are "fairly" well known, there is no point IMHO paying this premium)

BugBear
 
(from another forum)

It has come to my attention that copies of my book are being made available as an e-book.

Some people may not see why this is an issue but let me explain.

There were no books available when I learned to make guitars and so I had to learn the hard way. I have spent huge amounts of money learning to do what I do and the results were published first in 1986. It first came out on Blandford Press in 1986 and my yearly royalty was not enough to buy a decent guitar and was never more than £1,000 despite the book selling in huge numbers. I have also answered hundreds, if not thousands, of questions from people who have read the book and none of that time was paid for by anyone other than me. However, I do this happily as I can remember when I was in exactly the same position but with no one to ask.

In 1998 the current edition came out and I am the publisher. For me to set this up I had to get a major loan and put my house as security. I have so far spent several years actually working on the book, invested a huge amount of money and my returns are still not exactly huge. I have considered selling NBS Publications a few times as it is not a profitable business. I am now having to invest money again (money I don't have and have to borrow) to build the company up. There will be some more books out on NBS Publications next year but in the meantime I am having to work very long hours which I am not, at the moment, getting paid for.

Make Your Own Electric Guitar costs about the same as a pretty average guitar pickup. If you are going to make a guitar it is about the cheapest part of the whole process, and the cost of the book has not gone up since it was released. All the increases in paper costs, transport (which I have to cover for trade orders) and storage have all been absorbed by me. It also has thirty years of my life, from learning what I do to te present, wrapped up in it and all the information you need to stop you making some of the mistakes I did in my early years, each one of which will have cost you more than the cost of the book. If you do not think that an investment like that deserves the small return I get then you are not living in the real world.

E-copies are illegal and I will take action against anyone selling or offering them. They are a breach of copyright which is covered in most countries.

If you have any information on copies that may be for sale please do not hesitate to contact me with the details.

Melvyn Hiscock
 
If you actually try and buy it from his website you get "this page is under construction".
 

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